Cape Town - Former Bosasa COO Angelo Agrizzi and the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) have asked the Equality Court for time to agree on a settlement related to his repeated use of the k-word slur on a leaked audio recording.
Agrizzi made a brief appearance at the Equality Court, sitting at the Randburg Magistrate's Court, on Wednesday morning on a hate speech charge under Section 10 of the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act.
The charge stems from a secret audio recording made during a meeting at Agrizzi's Fourways home with Bosasa CEO Gavin Watson's children and nephew in which he can be heard repeatedly referring to black directors at Bosasa as k*****s.
The clip, which was played at the Zondo commission of inquiry into state capture, has been widely circulated on social media.
At the time, inquiry chair Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo told the commission that the recording was "extremely offensive".
The court heard that both parties in the case were uncertain how - and by who - the audio clip, which was part of a longer recording, was disseminated.
Speaking after the brief court appearance, Buang Jones, who appeared for the Human Rights Commission, said while SAHRC wanted the matter to be heard before the court, they were not averse to settlement talks.
When asked outside the court if he regretted his comments, a relaxed and smiling Agrizzi replied: "Of course I do regret doing it at all," but refused to elaborate on whether he regretted making the comment or that it ended up in court.
The case was postponed until June 27.